Instructions for Referees

The SIAM/ASA Journal on Uncertainty Quantification (JUQ) depends heavily on our referees, and we are greatly indebted for maintaining the quality and timeliness of our journal. Thank you for your help in assessing manuscripts.

Editorial Policy
The SIAM/ASA Journal on Uncertainty Quantification publishes research articles presenting significant mathematical, statistical, algorithmic, and application advances in uncertainty quantification and related fields such as sensitivity analysis, model validation, model calibration, data assimilation, and code verification. The journal also solicits papers describing new ideas that could lead to significant progress in methodology for uncertainty quantification as well as review articles on particular aspects. The journal is dedicated to nurturing synergistic interactions between the mathematical, statistical, computational, and applications communities involved in uncertainty quantification and related areas.

Articles must be written in clear and idiomatic English and must be accessible and of interest to a range of readers in a variety of application, mathematical, and statistical fields. They must contain substantial new results and relate them to the extant literature in a scholarly fashion. Whereas the journal has no formal limits on manuscript length, a paper exceeding 25 journal pages will be published only in the exceptional case that the author has fully justified the length to the referees, associate editor, and an editor. Such cases could occur, for instance, in order to make the work accessible to a broad interdisciplinary audience for review articles.

Submission of a manuscript is representation by the author(s) that the manuscript has not been published or submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. Papers that have appeared in conference proceedings will be considered only if (i) they are significantly revised and (ii) the previous appearance is explicitly indicated in both the submission letter and a footnote on the first page.

Review Process
The manuscript submission and peer review process is broken down into the following steps:

The Author submits a manuscript.

One of the journal's top-level editors assumes responsibility. This Editor will make the final decision. He or she may assign an Associate Editor.

The Associate Editor selects Referees to review and report on the manuscript.

The Referees review the manuscript.

The Associate Editor makes a recommendation to Editor.

The Editor makes a decision. The author is contacted.

Navigating the System
When invited to serve as a referee there are two ways to gain access to the manuscript.

The "View" link in your email message automatically logs you into the system and takes you directly to the files for the pertinent paper. After you have seen the material you are asked to accept or decline the invitation.Accept referee assignment: Clicking this link generates an e-mail that is sent to you with full review instructions.Decline referee assignment: If you are unable to review this manuscript and must decline we appreciate any suggestions of potential referees. You can suggest other reviewers or offer any observation on the paper by e-mailing juq@siam.org.

You can alternately access your files by logging into the system through http://juq.siam.org. Enter your user name and password. You are then taken to your "Home" page. It will have different categories of tasks. After clicking a manuscript link, you will be presented with a screen containing:

Information about the specific manuscript and the paper in PDF format;

Links to Accept/Decline to serve as a referee

A link to contact journal staff

If you accept the referee invitation, you'll gain access to a page with additional links to "Check Status" and "Review Manuscript."

Review Manuscript
Once you have accepted the referee assignment you will be presented with a "Review Manuscript" link. Clicking on this link displays your assessment screen. Here, you can enter your recommendation and report.*

* Note that in giving a recommendation, along with a free-form text box that allows you to copy and paste a report and /or comments, you must:

Select from a drop-down menu. This manuscript is:

Excellent;

Good;

Fair;

Poor;

Not appropriate for the journal.

Select from a drop-down menu. I recommend:

Reject;

Return to the author for major revisions, outlined in report;

Return to the author for minor revisions, outlined in report;

Publish as is.

The free-form text box for your report follows, directly below.

There is also a text box available if you wish to include a private message to the Editor. Comments entered here are not meant to be seen by the author(s).

If you prefer to work offline, you may find it faster and easier to download and print the manuscript, draft your review remarks in plain text or TeX, and copy and paste into the referee remarks text area on this screen.

NOTE: As a referee, you have the option of attaching a file to deliver your report. It is recommended, however, that you instead use the text box on the Referee Recommendation Screen to type or paste plain text or TeX code. PDF and Word file attachments sometimes contain hidden information that reveal your identity. If you must attach a file be sure to check and edit it. See http://www.siam.org/journals/identity.php for information on finding and removing identity clues in referee reports.

Private Message to Editors
As mentioned above, a referee wishing to make a point to the editor that is not meant for the author can use the text box labeled "Private Message to Editors." This is found directly below the "Detailed Comments" text box where you enter your report. The "Private Message to Editors" text box is optional, and should be used only for items not to be forwarded to the author.

Supplementary Materials
JUQ authors are encouraged to submit Supplementary Materials to complement articles. They might include additional figures or examples, animations, data sets used in the paper, computer code used to generate figures or tables, or other materials that are necessary to fully document the research contained in the paper or to facilitate the readers' ability to understand and extend the work.

If you are refereeing a paper that does include Supplementary Materials, along with the manuscript, know that the Supplementary Materials are generally not refereed but are available to you, as a referee. As part of your review you are asked to give the materials at least a cursory look and verify that they are appropriate to accompany the article. You may suggest changes, including removing some extraneous Supplementary Materials or moving items from the main text to the Supplementary Materials.

The author is also asked to submit an index of the supplementary materials. You should find a listing of each item along with a brief description and a justification for why the item should be included. This should be helpful in judging the appropriateness of the materials. Full guidelines on the journal's Supplementary Materials policy are available at http://www.siam.org/journals/juq/supplementary.php.

Getting Help
If you need additional help, click on the help signs throughout the system. A help dialog will pop up with context sensitive help. You can also email juq@siam.org if you need assistance.

Manuscript Status
To get the status of your assigned manuscript(s):

Log into the system with your password.

Click on the link represented by the manuscript tracking number and abbreviated title.

Click on the "Check Status" link at the bottom of the displayed page.

This procedure displays tracking information on the manuscript.

NOTE: Author rights to unpublished manuscripts:
All manuscripts are privileged documents; an author retains the right to the unpublished work. A referee should not use results or ideas obtained exclusively through the refereeing process in his or her own research.